It was my birthday last week so I fancied a change of pace with this video. Plus, I still get comments every day saying that Manstein didn’t lie ( ukposts.info/have/v-deo/rapyrqaAm3p_xH0.html ) and that I absolutely have to listen to what the German generals said because they were there and know what happened, whereas I wasn’t there and didn’t know what happened. Ok then… we’ll go along with what Manstein said 100% and see where we end up. Also I’ll be honest, Wesley asked this question several months ago, and I only realised last week that I had completely missed his question out (I’m really sorry Wesley). So this was a very quick last-minute video, which is why I didn’t go into the super-detail (divisional level) which I think Wesley wanted. That said, I’m currently working on Battlestorm Stalingrad behind the scenes, and I absolutely want to do the Third Battle of Kharkov as a Battlestorm series after that, because then that will lead nicely to the Battle of Kursk. So if you’re wanting me to go into great detail on it, start demanding that I hurry up with Stalingrad. And just to be clear, the sarcasm in the video is not directed towards Wesley, but is directed towards the idea that the Third Battle of Kharkov was a “miracle”. I’m not convinced that you can trust what the German generals (or any generals) by what they claim at all. The number of German troops was more than often stated, the number of Soviet troops was less than implied, and the Red Army was stretched thin and exhausted after months of advancing. The Soviet divisions were depleted, running out of ammunition and fuel, and weren’t concentrated. The Germans struck at the very moment the Red Army offensive was on the verge of coming to a halt anyway, and they had air superiority. Manstein had gathered substantial forces (either fresh or experienced) for his attack, and hit the Soviets in the flanks. They took on the Red Army in pieces rather than all in one go, and they only took a small amount of territory. If you call taking back a couple of miles after losing 100 miles a “miracle” then I guess this really was a great victory for the Wehrmacht. *Sources* Glantz, D. "After Stalingrad: The Red Army's Winter Offensive 1942-43." Helion & Company, Kindle 2011. Glantz, D. “Colossus Reborn: The Red Army at War, 1941-1943.” University Press of Kansas, 2005. Glanz, D. "From the Don to the Dnepr: Soviet Offensive Operations December 1942-August 1943." Routledge, Kindle 2013. Glantz, D. House, J. “The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 1. To the Gates of Stalingrad. Soviet-German Combat Operations, April-August 1942.” University Press of Kansas, 2009. Glantz, D. House, J. “The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 2. Armageddon in Stalingrad: September-November 1942.” University Press of Kansas, 2009. Glantz, D. House, J. “The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 3. Endgame at Stalingrad Book One: November 1942..” University Press of Kansas, 2014. Glantz, D. House, J. “The Stalingrad Trilogy, Volume 3. Endgame at Stalingrad Book Two: December 1942-February 1943.” University Press of Kansas, 2014. Glantz, D. “When Titan’s Clashed.” University Press of Kansas, 2015. Manstein, E. “Lost Victories.” Zenith Press, 2004. Melvin, M. “Manstein: Hitler’s Greatest General.” Orion, Kindle 2010. Zeimke, E. “From Stalingrad to Berlin: The Illustrated Edition.” Pen & Sword, Kindle 2014. A full list of all my WW2 and related books can be found here docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/114GiK85MPs0v4GKm0izPj3DL2CrlJUdAantx5GQUKn8/edit?usp=sharing Thanks for watching! Bye for now!

Manstien was actually playing hoi4. He was retreating to bait the Soviets into getting rid of their entrenchment bonus

Thanks, fans. I know i'm cool.

It is the same as the other MIRACLE victory - the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The French had 35.4 billion men against 3 Englishmen.

he won because of the bad AI but they will fix it in the next DLC

Legends say the Soviets even had a dragon. Manstein killed him with his bare hands.

"Let us go to holy scripture themselves" I'm dying

Manstein took a shovel and fended off an army with it. Then he literally made a portal and had it spit Greandes at the Soviets. The Tanks rolled forward and he charged them, he picked them up like the Hulk and threw them around like bath toys. Finally, the Artillery started to Shell. He swallowed Shells and spit them at Soviets. True Story.

24:59 "Let he who is without sin cast the first Stein" lmao

"Those who believe in the Manstein, shall receive the gifts of the Manstein." - TIK

I remember hearing that Mannstein personally went around to every POW camp to break off loafs of bread to make sure the millions of prisoners he had captured were well fed.

"Panzers don't need oil, they run off the blood of Aryans." - TIK xD

Actually Mansteins miracle was that he rescued the the Army Group south from total destruction. And despite beeing in a general strategic retreat, he still could deliver a Bloody nose to his opponent and gain an operational victory in a general defeat.

Glorious Manstein was the greatest field marshal to ever walk the battlefield, having personally killed 20 Soviet tanks in hand-to-hand combat himself and was only defeated because a humongous blizzard froze his army to death in the middle of July.

Blessed be the Holy Trinity of Manstein, Rommel, and Guderian.

You miss the point, Rather than allow 3 SS Panzer Divisions be forced into a suicidal attempt to defend Kharkov as Hitler insisted, Manstein with the help of Hausser defied Hitler and allowed the Russians to over extend themselves and then defeat them. Manstein was able to stabilise the front and recapture Kharkov and Belgorod and allow the Whermacht 6 months to prepare for Citadel. Without that happening, the Eastern front would have collapsed much earlier.

wow. The sarcasm was so thick I could cut a slice off and have it on toast.

What many often overlook, is that Manstein only included his soldiers in the battle because he didn't want them to feel left out. He could've done the entire thing alone with one tank, and everyone knew it. In fact, his thousands of soldiers probably only hindered Manstein by slowing him down, and was just yet another thing holding him back which was out of his control and undermined his immeasurable genius.

I just checked Wikipedia. It looks like someone watched this video and edited the article accordingly.

I might be imagining things, but I almost detect a hint of sarcasm in your voice on this one!

One reason Manstein was so successful in this battle involved having excellent line commanders, especially Herman Von Baulk.

"Your Lack of Faith is Disturbing." - Erich von Manstein Edit: Sorry guys I noticed I used the wrong Your.

In this video, TIK masters the art of deadpan comedy

Soviet Marshal Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky said: “We considered the hated von Manstein our most dangerous opponent. His technical mastery of every, and I mean every, situation was unequaled.”

P.S. TIK please do Douglas MacArthur in this way. All the source material is awesome awarding himself medals, hookers in his HQ staff; you might have a NETFLIX special.

"Manstein, you magnificent bastard - I read your book!!" Patton(probably)

I knew you would come to your senses eventually and embrace the Manstein!

you outlined all the reasons for Manstein's success- timing, concentration off forces, attacking units sequentially and in the flanks, and exploiting success...none of things just happen, they require good leadership.

Well, I have had at least a couple years worth of my daily sarcasm allowance! I really enjoyed this exposition with all of its gooey and dripping sarcastic goodness.

Leader: Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, Lvl 6 Panzer Genius. Bonus Abilities: 1. Easy Logistics, leader can operate up to 3 Panzer armies for up to 10 turns without fuel or ammunition. 2. Messianic Radiance, troops under this General gain +20 Morale whenever this leader orders a retreat, if this leader counter-attacks after a retreat, he materializes +100 supplies. Leader: Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky, Lvl 10 Swarm Lord. Bonus Abilities: 1. Necromancy, the leader can resurrect fallen allies or foes and thus swell the numbers of the Red Horde. 2. Zerg Rush, for each 10,000 peasants sacrificed the leader can summon one fully equipped division which operates at +33% attack speed. The province in which this ability is used suffers +5 dissent.

Fun fact, 2 days after he won the battle of Kharkov, Manstein also won the Premier League, the Epsom Derby and the Nobel Peace Price.

Even when qualified and filtered through three kilos of sarcasm the counter-attack at Kharkov was pretty brilliant :P

I think by 1943, the best Germany could hope for was a stalemate and even then the likelihood of that was slim at best

I heard Constantine saw a vision of the Reich’s child and had his men paint Manstein’s initials on their shields, winning him the battle of the Milvian Bridge by divine intervention.

Starting to get the feeling you don't like Manstein

Not sure what's being criticized here. Is TIK suggesting that Manstein's ideas about a war of maneuver were worthy of lampoon, and that only a static defense would have won WW II for the Germans? Did the Red Army actually win the 3rd Battle of Kharkov?

I really enjoy this channel. I love being challenged on my ideas and when other pre conceived ideas are challenged. Great work, tik.

TIK, this video should come with a warning label. I almost drowned in the sarcasm. Fortunately for me I had my snorkel handy.

Careful TIK the international audience on here might not appreciate your excellent British sarcasm. Great video keep going.

Manstein could turn water from the black sea into oil from Baku

Great content. I was laughing throughout the entire video lol while also learning stuff as well.

Thanks for clarifying this! The Germans truly were the best soldiers. I'm going to share this to all of my friends as well so they can see how awesome Manstein was! *tips Stahlhelm*

Remember when Manstein singlehandedly encircled all of the french army in 1940? That my friends is known as Fall Gelb.

I know this was ironic, but imagine you aren't familiar with TKI...

My brethern, your content gets better and better. Good work!

Happy Birthday and keep up the good work. May our lord live. One question, did you drunk to much at you birthday?

i think manstein had about 70k units of sarcasm compared to TIKs 80 bazillion units which is a win ratio of about 1:8million. he easily wins at any sarcasm odds by retreating and brilliant miracle counter sarcasming a total victory

Hi TIK, I have been following your videos for a few years along with other well researched work from your other counterparts such as Mr. Bernhard Kast (and a few others). Being a career Naval Officer (US Navy) I have attended several lectures (War College) including COL Glantz's explanations of the (mis)information that was taught after WW II as part of the Cold War. I also understand what the opening of the former Soviet Union's archives have enabled a more accurate assessment of the course of WW II especially on the Eastern Front campaign. My only concern is about you using sarcasms to describe the inaccuracies and/or propaganda used during the Cold War - this does not necessarily mean that Field Marshal Von Manstein was some clown. Most flag officers (Generals and Admirals) had and/or needed to have strong personalities which at times nearly led to culture of "cults", so is propaganda, so is war; we (USA) had our share of "strong personalities" in world conflicts. One must take in consideration, the context of the time these "miracles" were accomplished - hindsight being 20/20, we (our generation) have the luxury of being able to look back at history with all the documentation tools at our disposal, which previous generations did not have. I really enjoy your productions but I think it would be "more serious" (no pun intended) to keep jokes and sarcasms out of such a serious subject as war especially since you do have great credibility due to your comprehensive research on the subjects you describe. Peace be with you, Ciao, L (Veteran)

Happy birthday and thanks for another great video.

Thanks for blasting 4 TO 1 Into my head TIK!

Happy Birthday TIK - this was a hilarious delight and very entertaining. Keep up the great work, Monty

Happy birthday TIK ! Love your feudal direction ! haha

I honestly wish there was less sarcasm. I just want the historic information. Corrected of course so we have a better idea of actual numbers. Sarcasm just destroyed historic relevance as it becomes a cheesy chase for going after someone like Manstein. I honestly don't care for a specific general, nor their padded records. However in looking for information about the third battle I have to either watch stuff that takes everything at face value, or stuff that clearly waste too much time making fun of it. Plus being sarcastic about falling back to shorten the logistics while forcing the Russians to over extend theirs, is good tactics, regardless who does it.

Ok the Wehrmacht's ability has at times been exaggerated but let's not become too revisionist. Manstein had flaws but overall he was a great commander.

I loved this, the tone of it, superb !!!

Great stuff TIK, you're the best ! -Here is an idea for a future video series; An in depth look at the Dieppe Raid.

Ahhh a fine taste of a damn good sarcasm

As always, your videos are on point. I love that I just have to listen and not think at all, thank you for explaining what an exceptionnal commander Manstein was. Many thanks.

Turning the situation at the end of 42 into a solid front at the start of 43 was indeed a miracle

Great video! I've really been getting into your history series, very professional and well done. I have a question about when you calculate manpower vs manpower. So let's say German divisions in a battle add up to 50,000 men and Russian divisions add up to 100,000. Are you equating that to a 1:2 ratio or are you just counting frontline combat troops? I know a big chunk of German manpower was just support and logistics and specialists whereas I believe the Russians had less specialists and more frontline combat troops compared to Germans. So as far as just combat troops vs combat troops the ration could actually be more along Manstein's and other German commanders estimates. Please clarify someone I just thought about this and would like clarification.

Wry and tongue-in-check ranting 👍 Love the straight faced counter-referencing. Tis all in the sources. 😉 Also, hippy bath day...

The writings added on the screen are just hilarious

Whew, I knew I was right to never doubt his greatness

An interesting video. Hope to see more soon. Just small note, in 14.35 minute you have one mistake - von Salmuth commanded 2nd German army during late 1942 in Voronezh area, not the 1st.

25 minutes video of sarcasm< great work! I laughed a lot

this is meme-tastic!

Best vid ever - the sarcasm knows no bounds - much love - great as always

I always love your iconic "hitler was a madman!" moments

Although I found the sarcasm quite hilarious, it did make the video overtly long and, sadly, the joke suffered a bit from it. Other than that, I would have to say that I enjoyed this content and I hope you do something similar in the future (but maybe shorten it a bit) But on a more serious note, do you believe that they could have defended the territory they retreated from, or were they doomed no matter what they did? (You could make a reply in a small follow-up video.) I am no expert on this topic, so I have no arguments to start a discussion myself.

the amount of sarcasm in this video might be lethal for some people

man, i would really like to see a simple recap of Manny's Miracle in simple terms, with out a recap of history and histrionics

Please TIK, I'm asking this as a genuine question and not a cyberbully: one thing I still don't get, I saw your Soviet Economic Collapse in 1943 video in which you several times state that Soviet historic figures are basically forged and not particularly trustworthy, but here you take Glanz's numbers as absolutely truthful. I don't mean Glanz is masking something, but that his sources are the same Soviet archives as the others, not? I mean, Glanz was handpicked to have access to those files, and how can we assure that those files weren't modified for foreign comsuption altogether? Russia hasn't really been through a real regime change in all these years. Thanks and congrats for the work

Strange, I keep hearing the sound of someone grinding an axe :) Nice one TIK

Do you really think, in hindsight, that holding onto the Caucasus with Army Group A was a plausible idea?

I enjoyed watching you have sooo much fun with this video share. Belated Happy Birthday Tik.

Nice, even better general than I thought. Thanks.

Manstein: We were outnumbered 8 to 1 Siege of Vienna: Hold mein beer

Would have been a different outcome if Manstein had the 6th Army and Paulus was on the Don.

2:12 Im watching the same English Wiki article today 17/06/2019. And the Soviet Strength seems to have been altered now it just says 210,000. So wish one is it?

Very well done, TIK - and very funny!

Hahahahaha TIK I love your sarcasm.

Oh boy , you never find a lot about the third battle of Kharkov - my Monday is saved thanks tik

Heavy sarcasm in this vid is hilaruous!!!

I love the sarcasm and all the different numbers depending on what resource you use. Thanks.

The panzers run on aryan blood 😂😂😂

This video is genius. I'm afraid TIK may have been working to hard lately as this video feels like a pressure valve that went full pressure for 30 minutes.

I love how the wikipedia article has improved a lot in comparison to the time you made your video. Yeah, wikipedia is quite unaccurate sometimes but the big strength of its concept is, that it's getting better the longer time goes on. :)

Do you also have the Excel file available somewhere online? I'ld love to look through the data.

And here we are in 2022 and a war is being waged across the same battlefields

Man, Sabaton needs to do a song about this, titled "372647493 to 1". Also, those vile academic scholars, what other numbers they might be lying about I wonder...

The amount of sarcasm is this, is just phenomenal.

You are a Madman !!!(!) Superb superior humor. Fun wins in every battle. Great vid.

More, make more videos roasting "miracles" of ww2

You all hear it right? They are coming... They are close... The angry wehraboo

i was prepared for sarcasm, but this was too much for me. :) still love your channel, keep up the work!

My grandfather was a corporal driving a supply truck He was in Army Group South and was at one of the Battles of Kharkov.

Had you been alive in the 40 s your sarcasm would have made manstein surrender.....

Thank you TIK for improving the visibility of SS unit symbols! Also, happy birthday!

I thought you were going to stop taking the piss after a few minutes but you held it through. Genuinely very funny, well done

Very impressive analysis... I would recommend another example of “forgotten sacrifice” for a future documentary...the 551st Parachute Battalion (the real Lost Battalion of WWII ) at Rochlenval Belgium in January 1945. They defeated General Joachim Pieper and his German forces - during the Battle of the Bulge. - with the loss of 86% killed or wounded !!! That combined with the death of their commanding officer - Lieutenant Colonel Joerg their reward - the 551st was disbanded ? My father - 1st Lieutenant John Milton Hill was one of the few survivors.